Man who downloaded 4,500 images and videos of child sexual abuse material jailed for 18 months

Isabel Hayes

A man who downloaded more than 4,500 images and videos of child sexual abuse material over an eight-day period before handing himself into gardaí has been jailed for 18 months.

Aaron Catchpole (32) also admitted to gardaí that he had been contacting young girls on Instagram and asking them to send him nude pictures, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Monday.

Catchpole, of Isaac's Hostel, Frenchmans Lane, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography – otherwise known as child sexual abuse material – on September 17th, 2020. He has seven previous convictions including for drug possession.

The court heard Catchpole's former partner threatened him that he would never see his child again if he didn't “come clean” about his activities, Garda Edel Murphy told Joe Mulrean BL, prosecuting.

He walked into Pearse Street garda station on the day in question and told them he had been looking at images of young girls and that he kept getting “deeper and deeper” into it.

The court heard Catchpole also added a lot of young girls on Instagram and sent them messages asking for nude pics, the court heard. None of the children replied to him, the court heard.

Catchpole's phone was seized and analysis found a total of 4483 images and 32 videos of children being abused or exposed, including infants as young as six months. The court heard Catchpole had only bought the phone eight days previously. Other devices that were seized by gardaí did not contain anything untoward, the court heard.

Defence counsel asked Judge Martin Nolan to take into account the unusual feature of the case in that Catchpole handed himself into gardaí. A Probation Service report has placed him at a high risk of reoffending but he is extremely remorseful and is keen to engage in offence-based programmes.

He has a long history of drug addiction but has been in custody since last October and is making good progress.

Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Nolan said that without protective measures, there was a good chance Catchpole would reoffend. He said it was an aggravating factor that Catchpole had tried to contact children online.

He handed down a sentence of two and a half years and suspended the final year on a number of conditions, including that he remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for a year upon his release.